


Across The Stars

by SpeechBubbleMe



Series: Across The Stars [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Jedi, Jedi Training, Pre-Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-13
Updated: 2017-02-15
Packaged: 2018-09-24 03:11:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 19,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9697139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpeechBubbleMe/pseuds/SpeechBubbleMe
Summary: AU slow-burn Obi-Wan x OC. Planning to span from the prequels to the new movie, but we'll see how far it goes. Rhys Talik Naberrie is chosen to be a Jedi and is brought to the Jedi Temple to be the padawan of Master Yoda. Along the way she falls in with a certain group of friends - particularly my favorite ginger padawan!





	1. Child of Naboo

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Fanfiction.net - Hope you like it!

Qui-Gon Jinn tried to repress the urge to roll his eyes as he exited the Queen’s throne room. The current Queen of Naboo, Queen Malika, was a bit older than usual for the ruler of the Naboo and had developed a sense of paranoia at the coming close of her second term of office. She had requested that a Jedi preside over the final round of elections with the belief that some anarchist group or other would attempt to disturb it. He had spoken to her upon his arrival, but she refused to cooperate with the security forces to prevent the problem.  
Qui-Gon had no doubt that something would happen on this mission – he had encountered a disturbance in the Force as soon as he had stepped off his ship. He couldn’t tell at this point whether its intent was good or bad, but he knew to let the feeling run its course.  
As he walked across the stone floors, Qui-Gon picked up a nearly imperceptible change in the flow of energy around him. He had a sudden impression to follow the changes to its source. Qui-Gon wove through the empty halls, searching for the source in the change of energy. Finally he came to a closed door that reverberated with the squeals of young children.  
Of course, Qui-Gon thought, I had to find a youngling on this mission. He sighed, but followed his urge to knock on the door. A pregnant woman answered the door, revealing a group of about fifteen children under the age of ten running around the room.  
“Whose children are these?” he asked softly, stepping into the room. Most of the children paid no attention to his entrance with the exception of a little girl that looked to be about eight.  
“Children of the diplomats working in the elections, Master Jedi,” the pregnant woman answered. Qui-Gon nodded and gestured inquiringly to a small chair in a corner of the large room.  
“May I sit and observe for a few moments?” he asked. The woman hesitated, but finally nodded her assent. Qui-Gon sat down in the chair and watched the children play, certain that one of them was the source of the ripple in the Force. The woman soon left the room, informing the Jedi that she would be back shortly. As soon as she was gone the little girl that had watched him enter sat down at his feet, spreading her fine dress around her before she sat down.  
Qui-Gon could feel her curiosity seep into the Force as she stared at him with her head cocked slightly to one side. She looked a little small for her age, but her green eyes betrayed her intelligence. Her long brown hair had been elaborately coiffed in the style of the Naboo, painstakingly braided and pinned to mimic the style of the current Queen. A beautiful white dress – masterfully made – indicated her as a daughter of one of the fairly wealthy royal-appointed diplomats or aides that were required to prepare for the upcoming elections.  
“You’re a Jedi Knight, aren’t you?” the little girl asked with perfect clarity.  
“Yes,” he answered, then leaned in conspiratorially, “I’m on a very important mission for the Queen – top secret, you know.” She raised an eye in disbelief and shook her head.  
“No it’s not,” she retorted, “I know why you’re here! To watch the elections!”  
Qui-Gon tried his best to look stern at her, “And how would you know that?”  
She shrugged her shoulders and looked at the floor, “I listened, I guess…”  
Qui-Gon was surprised at her simple answer. He had by now deduced that she had some connections to the Force and routinely used her mind to check on the conditions of the various children running around the room. Qui-Gon did think it strange that he couldn’t sense her through the Force, but she could have figured out how to use the Force to conceal her energy signature.  
“What did you listen to?” he asked, “There are not many that know of my presence here.”  
“I just knew you were coming,” she said matter-of-factly.  
The pregnant woman came back into the room just then – both the Qui-Gon and the girl were aware of her coming presence long before she entered through the door. The girl hurriedly scurried away from the Jedi and back to the pack of children where she resumed playing dolls with a younger girl in a nearly identical dress. Qui-Gon stood up and walked over to the woman who had taken a seat in a chair by the door.  
“That little one there,” Qui-Gon said, gesturing to the little girl he had been talking to, “Who are her parents?” The woman didn’t answer for a moment, and seemed visibly nervous.  
“She’s my daughter,” she said finally, staring at him as if daring him to talk to her daughter.  
“How old is she?”  
“Nearly eight.”  
Qui-Gon frowned slightly at her answer – usually children were brought to the Temple as infants or toddlers. If he brought this girl to the Temple now she would always remember her family, and her family would remember her as well.  
“What is her name?” he asked.  
“Rhys Talik Naberrie,” came the reply. The Jedi Master thought for a moment; he would definitely have to contact the Council about the girl. He made up his mind, then stood up and walked to the door.  
“May I contact you after the elections?” he inquired. The mother hesitated, but gave her information. Qui-Gon saw that little Rhys saw and heard everything that had transpired between him and her mother. The Jedi thanked the mother, then left to his chambers to contact the Council.

__________

“A vergence in the Force?”  
Qui-Gon stood in front of his communicator that displayed him in front of the Jedi Council. His friend, Mace Windu, had seemed apprehensive at first, but had gradually warmed to the idea of accepting Rhys as a youngling in the Temple.  
“Yes,” Qui-Gon answered, folding his hands in front of him, “She is strong with the Force already, and I do not believe that I was led to her for any other purpose. She is meant to be a Jedi, I know it.”  
Master Yoda, who until this point had said nothing, suddenly spoke, “About the girl’s abilities, how feel the parents?”  
Qui-Gon sighed, “They don’t whole-heartedly support the idea that their daughter could be a Jedi. They seemed to be very family-oriented.” Master Yoda nodded sagely, then closed his eyes in thought.  
“Go to Naboo, I must,” the ancient Jedi said. The rest of the Council stared at him in shock – the oldest Master hardly ever left the Temple for such matters, “Important to the future, this youngling is. Need her, we will, to battle against the growing disturbance in the Force. Teach her myself, I will. After the elections, arrive I will.”  
Qui-Gon tried not to stare in disbelief – Yoda was offering to be her teacher before even meeting the girl. Then again, the old Master was known for his power of foresight and visions of the future. He bowed, then disconnected the transmission as a summons from the Queen came over his communicator. This is going to be a long mission, he thought as he accepted the summons.

__________

Just as Qui-Gon had thought, the elections ran smoothly and soon a new Queen was on the throne – nineteen-year-old Queen Berendala. After giving his respects to the new Queen, Qui-Gon headed out to the main palace hanger where Yoda was due to arrive any moment. Soon enough, the transport carrying the little green Master touched down. Qui-Gon bowed as Yoda exited the ship.  
“The elections, successful they were?” Yoda asked.  
“Yes, Master. Everything went smoothly.”  
“Good, good,” the ancient master said, “To the Naberrie home, guide me.”  
Both Jedi entered a shuttle to take them to the Naberrie’s home outside of the capitol city, Theed in the nearby Lake Country. Most of the planet was out celebrating the new elections, but Qui-Gon had made sure that the Naberrie’s would be at home. He had contacted them alerting them to Master Yoda’s interest in their daughter. The father, Ruwee, had been far more receptive to his contact than the mother, Jobal. She was wary of the Jedi, but had allowed Qui-Gon to interact with Rhys in order to determine the depth of her Force connection.  
As Qui-Gon had come to know the girl, he had discovered the she was very connected to the world around her. Rhys seemed to have an empathetic connection through the Living Force, feeling the emotions of those that surrounded her. The little girl had actually found her way to where he was sitting during the elections, and was quite content to talk with him about his adventures and life at the Jedi Temple for the course of several hours.  
The two Jedi finally arrived at the Naberrie’s home in the Naboo Lake Country. Qui-Gon couldn’t help but marvel at the crystal waters, serene mountains, and the beautiful harmony of the nature around him. This place was teeming with the Living Force that created an air of peace and tranquility. When they reached the door, Yoda rapped gently on the wood with his gimer stick. Ruwee, dressed in his ceremonial robes from earlier in the morning, opened the door and welcomed the two Jedi into his home.  
Jobal and Rhys were waiting for them in a small sitting room. As they entered, Ruwee explained that their younger daughter Sola was taking a nap. Jobal still eyed the Jedi warily, but seemed to accept their presence for the time being. Rhys quietly regarded Yoda with curiosity and amazement – she had never seen anyone so old and so small.  
“Strong in the Force, your daughter is,” the ancient master said, placing his gnarled hands on top of one another, “Willing to take her as my padawan learner, I am. Take this offer lightly, you should not.”  
Both of the Naberrie’s looked at Yoda in shock – Qui-Gon hadn’t told them about the old master’s offer on his request to tell them himself. They had never dreamed that the legendary Jedi Council member would even consider taking their daughter as his student, and knew that his offer was something rarely – if ever – given.  
“If she goes to the Jedi Temple, will we ever see her again?” Jobal asked, fear and sadness evident in her voice. Yoda closed his eyes in thought.  
“Unorthodox, this event is. For her and your safety, keep your name she cannot,” The mother’s face fell at his words, “However,” Yoda added, “Foresee I do a time when needed by her kin, she will be. Willing to allow contact with her family, I am, if interfere they do not.”  
Both parents let out a sigh of relief at his words. Qui-Gon was genuinely surprised at the grizzled master’s words – very few exceptions were made when considering younglings to be brought to the Temple. Qui-Gon didn’t always agree with the Council’s methods and rules, but now he could feel that this was the right course for the girl’s future.  
“Do I get to live in the Temple with you?” Rhys asked, stepping away from her parents.  
“Yes,” Qui-Gon answered her, “But you’ll be able to contact your parents through message and holos.” Yoda stood up and addressed Rhys and her parents.  
“Settled, it is. A Jedi Knight, she will be.”


	2. The Temple

Rhys wasn’t scared. She could feel in the Force – as Qui-Gon had called it – that this was the correct road to take. She knew that her destiny lay with the Jedi and not on Naboo with her parents. She loved her parents, but they couldn’t understand what she’d felt. She would miss them and Sola – even though her four-year-old sister was still angry at her for leaving her behind.  
As she waved goodbye to her family from the ramp of the ship, she felt a small hand on her shoulder. She looked over and saw Master Yoda right behind her, beckoning to her. With one last goodbye to her family, Rhys scampered up the ship’s ramp and to the side of the little green Jedi. He motioned for her to kneel in front of him that her head was nearly level with his.  
“Your first lesson in the ways of the Force will I give you,” he said, “The Force is all around us, in every living thing. It connects and binds all life together. We live in harmony with the Force – not just warriors with a lightsaber are we, but protectors of life.”  
“Master,” Rhys hedged tentatively, “I heard Master Qui-Gon speak about midi-chlorians. What are midi-chlorians?”  
Master Yoda looked pleased by his new apprentice’s curious nature, smiling softly at her questions. He spent the rest of the hyperspace journey back to Coruscant answering her endless stream of questions about the Force, the Jedi, and – strangely enough – his own life. Rhys proved to be insatiably curious about her new Master, loving the ancient Jedi’s endless fountain of wisdom and stories. She especially loved the stories about his time as a padawan more than eight centuries ago. Qui-Gon watched the interaction with amusement – his padawan, Xanatos, had been very curious like that.  
But Xanatos was gone now, swayed by the power of the dark side. No one had seen or heard of the fallen apprentice since he had turned and fought with Qui-Gon. Since the fall of Xanatos, Qui-Gon had thrown himself furiously into his missions and hadn’t even thought about taking on a padawan since. But this curious little girl that had spent most of his time on Naboo pestering him with talk and questions made him yearn for his years spent teaching a child the ways of the Force.  
As they neared Coruscant, Qui-Gon gave Rhys a spare set of robes and a tunic that was commonly worn in the Temple. Rhys would eventually get her own sets, but for now she could use the spares. The tunic was a little long and the shirt a little baggy, but the little girl was ecstatic upon receiving them.  
Instead of going to one of the larger landing pads, Yoda instructed the pilots to land the shuttle in the holding bay usually reserved for the members of the Jedi High Council. Qui-Gon agreed with the old master – Rhys would most likely be overwhelmed if they entered by way of one of the other landing pads. As soon as they touched down Rhys eagerly scampered to the lowering ramp.  
“Padawan,” Yoda chided, “By my side is your place.” The girl’s face fell for a moment, then brightened as she took her place by her master’s side.  
“Yes, Master,” she chirped as she walked beside him. Qui-Gon smiled at the pleased look on the older Jedi’s face – Yoda rarely had such a receptive or obedient student.  
As they descended the ship’s ramp, Qui-Gon could make out the forms of Masters Plo Koon and Ki-Adi Mundi. Both were recent additions to the High Council, and were several years older than he was. They stared at Yoda’s new padawan with surprise and amazement as the three met them in the hangar.  
“Masters Plo Koon and Ki-Adi Mundi, meet my new padawan, Rhys Talik.” Both masters bowed slightly, with Rhys returning the gesture. Qui-Gon gave a small smile of approval – Yoda had taught her much in the small amount of time that they were on the shuttle.  
“Master Yoda,” Plo Koon said, his voice filtering through the anti-ox mask he wore, “You’re needed in the Council chambers.” Yoda closed his eyes in thought.  
“Very well,” he said, then turned to Qui-Gon, “Expect your report, the Council does, Master Jinn.”  
“Yes, Master,” Qui-Gon replied.  
Mace Windu was baffled when Yoda insisted on bringing Rhys into the Council chambers. Generally, the Council members with padawans hardly ever brought them into the Council room unless to give them some task or to give their report. Mace tried to argue, but the ancient master simply raised a hand.  
“Need this experience, she will, in the future.” Mace gave up arguing and sat down in his chair.  
“Your report, Master Jinn,” Mace said tiredly.  
Rhys sat, spellbound, on the floor by her master’s seat as she listened to Qui-Gon give his report of the events on Naboo to the Council. The Force was so strong in the room she could practically feel it churning around her. She felt the urge to touch the flow of energy and – like a child stirring a still body of water – produced small ripples in the river of the Force. Yoda immediately felt what his padawan was doing and fixed her with a pointed look. Once Qui-Gon had left, Yoda presented her to the Council.  
“Young, she is, but strong in the Force,” Yoda said, placing a hand on her shoulder.  
“Powerful she will be,” Yaddle, an old Jedi of Yoda’s species, said as she pointed to the new padawan. The other Council members seemed to be surprised by her voice, but took her wisdom with great thought.  
With those words, the Council dismissed and Yoda took Rhys on a tour of the Temple. She was amazed by the vastness of it all, and didn’t bother holding back her questions. Countless other Jedi passed them, bowing to the ancient master in respect. Yoda finally stopped in front of his quarters, where Rhys would stay as his padawan. Yoda showed her to her room, where better clothes had been laid out for her. The girl quickly changed into a cream-colored tunic with brown pants tucked into her boots.  
They continued their tour, stopping in front of the Jedi Archives. Jocasta Nu, the wizened keeper of the Archives, met them at the entrance and immediately to a liking to the new padawan. She, too, was pleased by the endless barrage of questions and was all too happy to answer them. Master Nu soon showed Rhys the Archives, explaining every statue and relic as they went. Too soon, in Rhys’s opinion, Yoda led her away from the Archives and to the Medical Wing.  
“Master Yoda!” Barrit Chopa, a young Togruta healer greeted, “What can I do for you?”  
“A midi-chlorian test, my padawan needs, Barrit,” Yoda said, guiding Rhys to linen-covered bed. Barrit seemed surprised – he had never heard of the Grand Master having a new padawan, but he saw nothing wrong with a youngling having a midi-chlorian test. Most younglings had their midi-chlorian count monitored for their first few years at the Jedi Temple.  
“Of course,” Barrit answered, grabbing a data-reader and a small needle. He knelt next to the bed, holding Rhys’s hand out. “What’s your name?” he asked her.  
“Rhys Talik,” she answered, curiously gazing at the young healer.  
“Well, Rhys, I’m going to poke your finger so that I can get a bit of your blood. It won’t hurt much, but it needs to happen, all right?” She nodded her assent and presented a small finger.  
True to Barrit’s word, the poke did hurt, but the Rhys’s pain was soon forgotten as she saw the healer place a few drops of her blood into the data-reader. The small machine made a high-pitched beep, then presented its findings. Barrit stared at the results in confusion – the reading was off the charts, even higher than Yoda’s!  
“Master, there must be some mistake!” Barrit exclaimed, showing Yoda the data-reader. The old master simply smiled and returned the data-reader to Barrit’s hands.  
“Confirmed, my suspicions are,” Yoda said, turning to go, “Helpful you were, young healer. Come, Padawan. Much more to do today, we have.” Rhys gave the dumbstruck healer a winning smile as she followed her master out of the Medical Wing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave any comments or questions!


	3. Chapter 3

Rhys had been at the Temple for two weeks when her master had introduced her to her new Initiate clan. The children of this clan were about three years her senior, but Master Yoda was confident that they would challenge and teach her in ways that those her age could not. And so it was that Rhys found herself alone in a group of older children, a padawan among Initiates.  
She fingered her padawan braid nervously – after nearly two weeks with the braid hanging by her right ear Rhys still hadn’t gotten used to the feeling of the shoulder-length braid brushing her neck. The rest of her long brown hair was neatly twisted into a bun at the nape of her neck. Following her padawan braid ceremony, Master Adi Gallia had shown her one of the best ways to keep her hair out of her face. The Tholossian Jedi Master had been one of the first Council members to openly accept her as Yoda’s padawan, and had since shown her many things that the female Jedi did.  
Her first lightsaber class had been a disaster. Her quick reflexes and natural agility lent to some skill with the training sabers, but her quick learning had been a bit of a sore spot with some of the older Initiates. They had retaliated with insults and biting comments as soon as the Jedi Master in charge left to tutor another student. Rhys ended up staying in the back of the class and practicing the katas by herself, as no one else wanted to be her sparring partner.  
After the class was over and the other Initiates had left, Rhys wandered over to where some of the older Initiates were sparring and practicing for the next Tournament. Combat Tournaments were often used to find masters for Initiates ready to be padawans and to find out who would be sent to the AgriCorps. Rhys looked around in awe at the skill around her, finally settling on a boy with reddish hair practicing a complicated kata alone.  
She watched him for a little while, his blue practice saber flashing around him with practiced ease. Rhys was delighted to find that she could determine the form that he was using: Ataru, the fourth lightsaber form that focused on using speed and agility. The boy executed a flawless parry, then flipped away from his imaginary opponent. Rhys clapped as soon as he landed.  
He stared at her with an eyebrow cocked. “I didn’t realize that I was performing,” he said, his accent identifying him as from the Inner Rim.  
“You’re very good,” Rhys said, stepping onto the practice mats, “Are you going to compete in the Tournament in a few days?”  
“Yes, you?” He picked up a towel from a rack and began to wipe sweat from his neck.  
Rhys shook her head, “No, but I’ll be watching with my Master.” The boy stopped to look at her much like the other Initiates had, a mix of surprise and disbelief but without the blatant jealousy.  
“What’s your name?” he asked, studying her face closely. Rhys shrunk away from his scrutiny, shyly bowing her head.  
“Rhys Talik,” she answered, not meeting his eyes. The boy was quiet for a moment, then made a small sound of approval. Rhys looked at him in confusion.  
“You must be Master Yoda’s new apprentice, then. Everyone went out of their heads when he left the Temple,” he said, extending a hand, “I’m Obi-Wan Kenobi.”  
Rhys hesitantly took his hand and shook it, “Nice to meet you, Obi-Wan.”  
“Nice to meet you too,” Obi-Wan said, picking up his discarded outer robes and draping them over a small bag, “I’m sorry I can’t talk for long, I promised a friend that I would help them with meditation before the Tournament. I guess I’ll see you around?” Rhys watched him walk to the doors of the now-empty Training Room.  
“Wait!” she called out, causing him to turn around partially and look back at her, “You’re not mad at me like everyone else?” Obi-Wan smiled and turned around fully to face the young padawan.  
“Why would I be mad at you?” he asked. Rhys shrugged in response. “I think that if Master Yoda decided to take a padawan at such a young age it must be the will of the Force. I may be just an Initiate, but I know that nothing gets in the way of the Force. If it was meant to be, it’s meant to be.”  
Rhys watched him turn and walk through the doors, astonishment etched on her face.

__________

Rhys and her Master usually took their meals in the small room reserved for the Council member’s privacy. The day after she had met Obi-Wan Yoda insisted that his apprentice eat in the main cafeteria with the other Initiates.  
“Sad and lonely you have become, Padawan,” he said, placing both hands sagely on his gimer stick, “Interact with others your own age you must, not just your old Master, hmmm?” Rhys protested to the best of her ability that her Master was not old, but Yoda simply held up a small, clawed hand.  
“Old I may be, Padawan,” Yoda said matter-of-factly, “Still be among the Living Force when you return, I will. Go on.”  
Rhys, though unhappy at her Master’s command, bowed respectfully and left their shared rooms. She remembered the way to the cafeteria from her tour of the Temple two weeks ago and quickly made her way to the line of Initiates and younglings patiently waiting for food. She eventually received a small tray laden with a nerf patty, a pair of warm pallies, and a carton of blue milk. Once she had gotten her food, Rhys looked around the room in dismay – many Initiates and younglings were already sending hate-laden glares in her direction. She felt her face heat up in embarrassment and looked at the ground.  
“Rhys!” The young padawan looked over to the source of the sound, a secluded table by the wall of the cafeteria. Rhys was surprised to see the maker of the noise: Obi-Wan Kenobi, surrounded by several other Initiates around his age. She quickly walked over to Obi-Wan’s table, ignoring the stares and looks sent her way.  
Obi-Wan greeted her warmly, making room for her between a male Dressellian and a female Mon Calamari. The other two occupants of the table were a pair of humans that couldn’t have been more opposite. The girl had long blonde tresses and a guarded look on her face, the boy had short dark hair with long strands on his neck where his padawan braid would eventually be and an amused smirk on his face.  
“Rhys, this are my fellow clan-mates Bant, Reeft, Garen, and Siri,” Obi-Wan said pointing to the Mon Calamari, Dressellian, and the two humans in turn, “This is Rhys Talik, Master Yoda’s new padawan.”  
To her surprise, none of the Initiates surrounding Rhys gave any thought to the fact that she was an unusually young padawan to the Jedi Grandmaster. Rhys gave a mental sigh of relief as she allowed herself to relax around the five friends.  
“I’m a padawan too,” Reeft said, showing Rhys the twisted leather and bead braid attached to a headband on account of his lack of hair, “Master Binn Ibes picked me after the last Initiate Tournament. He’s on a solo mission right now somewhere in the Outer Rim.”  
“Yeah, the rest of us are just Initiates, but not for long!” Garen exclaimed, his grin growing wider as his voice got louder.  
“Quiet down you big nerfherder!” Siri hissed, pulling the beaming Garen back down, “I’m sure that half the Temple can hear you by now!”  
Garen shrugged as he turned back to his food and speared a rather large piece of nerf patty and waved it around in Siri’s direction. “Maybe I just need to be louder next time,” he teased as Siri batted the food away from her face.  
Obi-Wan shook his head with a hand over his face, “Do you both intend to argue about this for the next millennia?”  
“Yes…..?”  
“YES!”  
Rhys tried not to giggle too loudly as the two friends bickered good-naturedly back and forth while Obi-Wan sent her apologetic looks from across the table. Bant, ever the peacekeeper, eventually got them to tell Rhys about the different aspects of Temple life, as she had only been there for a few weeks.  
“I don’t mean to sound greedy, but may I have your meat?” Reeft asked, gesturing to Rhys’ half-eaten nerf patty.  
“Still hungry, Reeft?” Garen teased.  
“Of course,” Reeft said apologetically, “My kind generally eats more than most beings – especially in adolescence.”  
“Hey, as long as you aren’t eating me, I’ll be fine,” Garen joked, passing an uneaten pallie in Reeft’s direction.  
Giving Reeft their extra food seemed to be an unspoken ritual among the five friends, each passing some small portion of their meals to the growing Dressellian. He accepted the offerings gratefully, then quickly ate them. Reeft still looked mournfully at his plate once it was empty, but was not quite as sad with the addition of extra food. Once he had finished, the others checked their chronos at almost the exact same time.  
“We should probably head to Master Vant’s history lesson,” Obi-Wan said, standing up from the table. Looking around her, Rhys realized that many of the cafeteria’s occupants were beginning to trickle out of the room, heading to their next set of classes or free time.  
“What about you, Rhys?” Bant asked as she stood up, “Where are you headed?”  
“My Master wanted to meditate again with me,” Rhys said sullenly, “He said that it’s the foundation of every good Jedi.”  
“Nah, I’m sure he said it like this,” Garen said as he cleared his throat and bent over in imitation of the ancient Jedi Master, “The foundation of every good Jedi, meditation is, young padawan!”  
“Said that, I did?”  
Rhys tried not to giggle as Garen jumped several feet in the air in his surprise. When he turned around to face Master Yoda his face was almost redder than Obi-Wan’s blush of absolute mortification. The six children hurriedly bowed to the Master, noticing his look of amusement as he looked them over.  
“Come, Padawan,” Yoda finally said, beckoning to Rhys. She hurried to his side, stifling laughter.  
“Gee, uh…. Well… you see, Master…. I…. uh…. Sorry, I guess….” Garen stammered out, unable to keep his sheer embarrassment from seeping into his voice.  
“Think of it, you should not,” Master Yoda said, turning away from the five friends, “Padawan, have a meditation session we do.” Rhys tried not to groan as she followed her Master. Rhys turned back once her Master had left the room.  
“You were really close to how he said it,” she whispered conspiratorially to Garen. His face lost a bit of the blush, if anything Obi-Wan’s cheeks grew even redder. Rhys scurried after her Master, trying to hide a growing grin.  
Once Rhys had left the room, Garen allowed himself to break out into a lopsided grin.  
“You know what, Obi, I think that little girl’s gonna fit in fine with us.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments and questions!


	4. Chapter 4

“Feel the Force flow through you…. Good, Padawan.”  
Rhys was standing on her hands, steadying herself with the Force. In only four weeks of being at the Temple, she had showed that she was a quick learner and was progressing at an unexpected rate for one her age. She was still struggling to meditate for long periods of time – she often told her Master that it felt like she was sticking her fingers into an electrical charge every time she attempted to meditate – but Yoda simply explained to her that her deep connection to the Force caused this sensation and that only through constant practice and repetition could she ever achieve meditation.  
“Now, the block.”  
Rhys focused on the small block her Master was sitting on, focusing on the task of lifting it. Her initial attempts of the exercise had resulted in the block and Yoda blasting into the air – she had the power and strength, but lacked the control and focus needed to channel the motion. Now, after several weeks of practice Rhys found that she could now control even the most precise movements needed to keep her, Master Yoda, and several objects balanced or floating about the room.  
The balancing exercise was one of Yoda’s favorites to give to Rhys during their meditation period every morning at dawn. He also put into place a strict schedule of training and meditation all through the day to be used alongside her regular classes. At first, the padawan had protested against the rigid schedule, but soon found the routine to provide a sense of normalcy in her life.  
“Good, Padawan. Improving, your focus is,” Yoda said from atop a floating block.  
Although she was growing stronger in her connection to the Force, Rhys’s arms began to shake under the strain of holding her body up in the air. She waveringly lowered the block holding her Master to the ground before collapsing and losing hold of the levitating objects. With prompting from her Master, Rhys pulled herself upright into a kneeling position in front of Master Yoda.  
“Well, you have done, Padawan,” the ancient Master said to his student, “Rest you will, for the remainder of the day.” Rhys gave a sigh of relief – her eight-year-old frame while strong with bolstering from the Force was protesting loudly at her Master’s exercises. “However, expect to see you at the Initiate Tournament, I do.”  
Rhys readily agreed, bowed to her Master in farewell, the set off to their shared quarters for a clean change of clothes before breakfast. Her thin training tank top and leggings were soaked with sweat from her labors. After a quick trip to the ‘fresher and several gulps of water, Rhys headed down to the Temple cafeteria.  
Even though Rhys generally ate her evening meal with her Master in the Council Lounge, she now enjoyed eating breakfast and lunch with her new friends. Reeft was on a mission with his Master and so would decrease their numbers and increase their extra food. Obi-Wan, Garen, Bant, and Siri were still without Masters, but they still had a year or so before they would leave for the AgriCorps. Reeft was the oldest of the eleven-year-olds, with Obi-Wan a close second. Garen and Bant were next, with Siri being almost a full year younger than Obi-Wan.   
Hastily making her way through the food line, Rhys was the first to arrive at their usual table on the outskirts of the cafeteria. Bant was the next to appear, still slightly damp from her morning swim in the Room of A Thousand Fountains’ lake as she sat down next to Rhys.  
“Morning!” she cheerfully said, rejuvenated from her swim. The Mon Calamari Initiate was the first to wake up until Master Yoda instituted early morning meditations for his padawan. Rhys returned her greeting – albeit less cheerfully than her friend.  
Obi-Wan, as usual, was the next to arrive. He also meditated in the morning, but not nearly as early or long as Master Yoda did. He set his tray down next to Bant, visibly nervous.  
“Cheer up, Obi,” Bant said in an effort to boost his spirits, “You’ll do fine!”  
“You’ve been practicing for months,” Rhys chimed in, shoveling a spoonful of warm grain-meal into her mouth.   
“Master Sony-Da said that my offense wasn’t nearly as strong as my defense, and if I’m to keep using Ataru I have to use more offense,” Obi-Wan said gloomily, pushing his food around on his plate.  
Rhys silently disagreed – Master Sony-Da was a great teacher, probably one of the best in the Temple with a lightsaber, but he was very rigid in his opinions. She had learned the basics of Form I from him, and he insisted that she was best suited for the defensively-based Soresu. Rhys had argued with him for some time about her fighting style when Master Keelyvine broke away from her group of students and came between them.   
Master Reus Keelyvine was a noted Jar’Kai practitioner taught by another student of Yoda’s, Master Dooku. She often taught a small lightsaber tactics class whenever she was at the Temple, but was adamant in her refusal of taking a padawan learner. She also tended to butt heads with Master Sony-Da, and took nearly every opportunity to prove him wrong.  
Master Sony-Da had been furious at Keelyvine’s interference, but grudgingly foisted the belligerent student onto his rival. Master Keelyvine spoke to Yoda later in the afternoon, expressing her desire to see Rhys trained in the art of Jar’Kai. Yoda had agreed, and allowed Keelyvine to teach his padawan the dual lightsaber style.  
Obi-Wan continued to pick at his food nervously until Garen and Siri arrived, bickering as usual about something. Both were competing in the Tournament, but were in different starting groups than he was. Bant was also taking part in the Tournament, but wasn’t stressing about it nearly as much as Obi-Wan was.  
“Obi, tell this laserbrain that he’s wrong,” Siri said, physically shaking Obi-Wan from his thoughts in her attempt to win an argument with Garen.  
“Of course I’m not wrong, Siri.”  
“Yes you are!”  
“Nope.”  
“Garen Muln, I will beat your sorry –“  
“Oh stop it, you two, or we’re going to be late!” Obi-Wan finally said as he realized the time.  
Garen and Siri immediately stopped bickering and quickly finished their food. Rhys walked with the older Initiates to the Training Room where the Tournament would be held, moving off to the side to watch as they prepared themselves.  
Rhys watched as some of the other Initiates began to lightly spar, meditate, or talk reassuringly with their friends. Several of the students were beyond nervous, even to the point of tears in one young Initiate. Rhys noticed a human boy with white hair standing by the entrance boasting loudly to his friends about how he would win the Tournament and get the best Master to choose him.  
“I’m going to be so great, Master Yoda’ll wish he picked me for his padawan!” The boy crowed, swinging an imaginary lightsaber around as if in combat with an invisible foe.  
He’s going to have a very rude awakening, Rhys thought to herself as she walked past the boy and his friends to climb up the stands. As she tried to go around the boy he moved and bumped into her, almost knocking her to the ground.  
“Watch where you’re going, wermo!” he yelled at her.   
“Cha skrunee do pat, sleemo!” she retorted in Huttese. I’m glad Master Nu is teaching me more languages, Rhys thought as she climbed up the stands away from the rude boy. Her Master had requested that she learn several of the languages commonly spoken on various worlds, as it would allow her to go on a wider range of missions. Currently Jocasta Nu was teaching her how to speak Huttese, Bacce, Mando’a, Galactic Basic, and also to understand Shyriiwook and Binary.  
Rhys eventually found Master Yoda seated next to Masters Windu, Plo Koon, and Ki-Adi-Mundi at the top of the stands. Many of the Jedi present in the Temple had come to watch the Tournament and filled a small portion of the stands. The stands in the Training Room were built to accommodate many more Jedi but there was a shortage of Jedi not currently on missions.  
“Found us, you have, Padawan,” Yoda said, making room for her in a seat he saved between him and Master Koon.  
“Master, what are the rules of the Tournament?”  
“Divided by age group, this Tournament is,” Yoda answered, “Separated into several sets, the age groups are to account for all of the competitors. Similar to training spars, the rules are.”  
Rhys nodded her understanding – for the first week or so living at the Temple she had struggled to understand her Master’s strange way of speaking but now could decipher its meaning quickly. She was familiar with the rules of training spars: participants would fight until they scored a hit on their opponent with their low-powered training saber. Three hits or disarming their opponent would signal the winner of the duel.  
“I haven’t missed anything, have I?” Rhys turned around to see Qui-Gon sitting directly behind her. She gave him a small wave and returned to watching the Tournament.  
The first age group to go was the ten-year-olds. Rhys was amazed to see younglings only two years older than she was skillfully execute advanced katas and moves. Siri had been placed in this age group, but was defeated by a young Twi’lek girl with striking blue skin and lekku for the first place spot. Siri seemed to be satisfied with her placement, and congratulated the Twi’lek girl on her win.  
The next group to go was the eleven-year-olds – Garen, Bant, and Obi-Wan were all in different starting groups. Bant was the first of the three friends to lose a match, nearly making it to the final eight. Both Garen and Obi-Wan made it to the final four, with Garen taking the fourth place rank. Obi-Wan, not surprisingly, made it to the final round.   
Rhys felt a surge of annoyance flush through her at the appearance of the other participant in the final round; it was the white-haired boy that had pushed her to the ground!   
“Check your emotions, you must,” Yoda said without taking his eyes off the starting match, “Release your anger into the Force.”   
Realizing her slip-up, Rhys quickly put up the mental shields that her Master had taught her to use to guard her mind and conceal her inward emotions. By the time that the announcer had spoken the boy’s name – Bruck Chun – Rhys had regained complete control.  
She watched in silence as the two opponents saluted each other, then began their duel. Bruck, as she had expected, attacked first with a sweeping cut at Obi-Wan’s head. Obi-Wan countered it easily with a quick parry and returned with a series of blows that drove Bruck to the edge of the engagement area. Rhys could feel Bruck’s anger pulse across the stands at being forced back, driving him to rage after Obi-Wan in a flurry of blows.   
It was Bruck who struck the first touch – a massive swipe up the inside of Obi-Wan’s right forearm. Obi-Wan, now with a debilitating injury to his sword arm, faltered in his blocks and yielded another hit, this time a small touch to his left thigh. Limping now, he hobbled around, trying to gain a hold on his footwork while Bruck toyed with him.  
He’s enjoying this, Rhys thought in alarm as Bruck flitted around Obi-Wan, saying things that only Obi-Wan could hear over the clash of lightsabers. Rhys watched her friend counter Bruck’s debilitating blows for several more minutes before sensing something unusual in the Force.  
She reached out into the Force swirling around her to find the source of the disturbance and was astounded to see that the ripple originated from Qui-Gon. She recognized his familiar Force-signature reaching out to Obi-Wan’s – desperate to help him, but with no way of doing so. Rhys also identified the beginning of a Force bond similar to the one that she and her Master possessed.   
Master, what is Qui-Gon doing? Rhys asked Yoda mentally through their growing Master-Padawan bond.   
Sense it also, I do, Yoda conveyed with a sense of approval. A powerful bond, it will be.  
Rhys knew of her Master’s great connection to the Unifying Force and his premonitions of the future that this often brought him. She didn’t doubt for a second that Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan’s fates were intertwined, even if they didn’t know it yet. Qui-Gon, of course, would have a hard time listening to her or her Master – Qui-Gon firmly believed in the Living Force and following the course of the moment rather than visions of the future.  
As Obi-Wan continued to struggle against Bruck, Rhys felt the growing Force-bond between him and Qui-Gon make a huge swell, threatening to project to all of the congregated Jedi if it wasn’t properly acknowledged for what it was. Yet, it the moment that Obi-Wan yielded a final blow it was abruptly cut off, vanishing from Rhys’ perception. She looked around in surprise at its sudden disappearance, but was too late.  
At the moment of Obi-Wan’s defeat, Qui-Gon had left the Training Room stands, brown cloak flapping behind his retreating figure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments and questions!


	5. Chapter 5

After the Tournament, Rhys found herself walking quickly to the Initiate’s entrance to see her friends that had yet to leave the Training Room. Master Yoda had given her the rest of the day to congratulate her friends while he went to Council meetings. Siri was the first person she found, talking with the blue Twi’lek that beat her for first place in their age group. The blonde girl waved Rhys over as soon as she saw her enter.  
“Rhys, this Aayla Secura,” Siri said, introducing the Twi’lek, “She’s one of the best in my age group with a lightsaber.”  
Aayla gave a small smile and patted Siri on the back, “You didn’t do too badly yourself.”  
“Thanks,” Siri grinned in reply.  
“I was watching from the stands with my Master. Can you show me how you did that one-handed parry when you flipped over Siri?” Rhys asked, her curiosity spiking.  
The two older girls immediately went about recreating their duel for Rhys’s benefit, explaining strategy and tactics as they went. Bant found her way over to them, giving advice and instructions on how to use specific maneuvers. Rhys surprised them by soaking up every bit of knowledge, asking plenty of questions and requesting aid on her form.   
“Maybe next time you’ll be good enough to even be considered for a padawan, Oafy-Wan!”  
The four girls all turned in the direction of Bruck’s sneering voice. He and his cronies had followed Obi-Wan off of the training floor, throwing insults and jeers at the boy’s back. Rhys could see that Obi-Wan wasn’t letting his outward emotions show, instead internalizing them and taking them into his core.   
“Don’t listen to him, Obi,” Siri said as Bruck backed off under the heat of her glare. Obi-Wan stopped in front of the group, fixed them with a sad gaze, and then continued on and out of the Training Room. Bant made a move as if to go after him, but was stopped by Siri’s arm.  
“Don’t,” the blonde girl said, “He’ll think through it himself.”  
Rhys disagreed – she had felt the depths of Obi-Wan’s despair as he passed, and knew that his empathetic nature would take all of those words to heart. She could feel his swirl of emotions echoing through the Force, sending a ripple of turmoil through the river of energy. Rhys eventually determined that Obi-Wan had finally calmed down enough to put his shields up, somewhat concealing his emotions from the rest of the Temple.   
As the rest of the Initiates trickled out of the Training Room, Rhys made the decision to go after Obi-Wan. Master Yoda had taught her a little bit about tracking a being through the Force, but she had never actively tried to track someone before. However, Obi-Wan’s trail was still rather fresh and provided a bright roadmap indicating where his presence had passed through the Force. He has to be around here somewhere, Rhys thought after following his Force-signature for several minutes, He wouldn’t have left the Temple, and-  
She was jolted from her thoughts by a sturdy cloth-covered wall in front of her, knocking her to the ground with the force of impact. Surprisingly, the object turned out to be a stern Mace Windu, looking at the padawan on the ground in disapproval.  
“Sorry, Master Windu!” Rhys cried out as she righted herself, “I wasn’t looking where I was going, and-“  
Windu stopped her with a wave of his hand. “In the future, use your senses to make yourself aware to the world around you, Padawan Talik.”  
“I will,” Rhys promised, running off before she could lose Obi-Wan’s trail, “Thanks!”  
Mace shook his head as he watched the young padawan swerve around several other Jedi’s and disappear around a corner.

__________

Rhys eventually found the end of Obi-Wan’s trail, leading her to the Room of a Thousand Fountains. It was a popular meditation spot for many Jedi, Obi-Wan included. She continued to find lingering threads of Obi-Wan’s Force-signature that led her to a secluded clearing on the opposite side of the room’s lake.   
The boy was kneeling with a serene expression on his face when Rhys arrived, not noticing her presence. Rhys, not wanting to disturb his meditation, sat near him and began to meditate as well. Opening herself slightly to the rush of the Force, Rhys allowed her senses to reach out and touch the area around her.   
Her meditations had become much easier – as Master Yoda had said – with practice, and no longer resulted in the electrifying tingle she had previously felt. Rhys still had to be careful – if she completely opened herself to the Force all at once her body would become overloaded and would feel the effects for several days afterward. Her first attempt at full meditation had landed her in the Healer’s Wing for most of the next day.  
Obi-Wan seemed to notice her meditating beside him and pulled back to the room quickly. Startled by the sudden lack of his meditative presence in the Force around her jerked Rhys back to reality.   
“Ummm…. Rhys?” Obi-Wan hedged. Rhys opened her eyes in alarm.  
“What?” Obi-Wan was pointing into the air around her. Several small rocks were now hovering lazily about her head in slow circles. Rhys quickly closed her connection to the Force and set them down gently.  
“Sorry,” she apologized sheepishly, “It happens when I meditate and I haven’t quite gotten the hang of controlling it yet.”  
Obi-Wan shook his head with a small smile, “You don’t need to apologize.” They fell into companionable silence in the stillness of the water and life around them.  
“Are you okay?” Rhys asked, finally breaking the quiet spell. Obi-Wan sighed, softly, and closed his eyes in thought.  
“I let Bruck get to me far more than usual. We’ve been rivals for quite some time now, but he’s never gone after me with so much force before. Ever since we were younglings he’s always tried to prove that he’s better than me for some reason that I can’t comprehend.”  
“Well, maybe it’s just his sparkling personality,” Rhys said matter-of-factly, “I mean, he does seem the type to be jealous – I just don’t see why he’s jealous of you.”  
Obi-Wan looked at her incredulously for a moment, then started laughing. Rhys joined him and accepted the hand he offered when he stood up.  
“Thanks,” He said, brushing off his robes before meeting her eyes, “Usually everyone thinks to leave me alone. It was nice to have someone there for a change.”  
Rhys shrugged nonchalantly, “We should probably get back before Siri and Bant come looking for us.” Obi-Wan nodded in agreement, and the two friends left the Room of a Thousand Fountains side by side.

__________

“’Bout time you showed up!”   
Rhys rolled her eyes at Garen’s shout from their usual table. Master Yoda had kept his padawan longer than usual, stressing the importance of being prepared for their upcoming training retreat. This week marked Rhys’s sixth month at the Temple, and her Master had requested that he take his padawan for some much needed private training to make up for time. Apparently the ancient master did this for all of his padawans – Rhys had spoken to Master Dooku and he had said that Yoda had taken him on a training trip for nearly a year to hone his Force skills. To say the least, Rhys was not optimistic about the length of the trip, but was willing to obey her Master.   
“My Master said I should get a good meal before we leave. I’m now under the impression that the flight will be a very long one,” Rhys said as she sat next to Bant.   
Reeft had left on another mission with his Master, but his absence was filled with the blue-skinned Twi’lek Aayla Secura that had become very good friends with Siri and Rhys. Aayla had taken to tutoring Rhys in basic lightsaber skills when the young girl wasn’t working tirelessly with Master Keelyvine. She had some of the basic Jar’Kai katas down, but was hopeless when it came to combining those katas into a fluid defense and offense. Rhys had greatly improved with Aayla’s patient teaching, and could now hold her own against many of her age group.  
“Did you ask him where you’re going?” Bant asked curiously. Rhys’s imminent departure had been the subject of conversation for the past few days everyone anxious to know where their friend was going to be for the next year.  
“Yes,” Rhys said a bit sullenly, “But every time I ask he just says that “Patience, the mark of a Jedi is. Do well to practice it, I think.” It’s maddening!”  
Obi-Wan stifled a chuckle. Rhys wasn’t exactly known for her ability to have patience in situations like this. Her naturally curious nature led her to discover any source of information that she could in the least amount of time. Yoda – a master of patience – would surely teach it to her.  
The rest of the meal passed with small talk about classes between the six friends. The next Tournament wasn’t for another few months, but every Initiate in the Temple was already furiously preparing for it in advance. Rhys’s friends were no exception – Garen, Bant, and Obi-Wan had created a strict schedule of training to improve for the next Tournament. Siri and Aayla were less worried about the Tournament and had taken to sparring with each other in the evenings for extra practice. They were all walking to the Training Room when they were found by Master Yoda.  
“Prepare to leave, we must, Padawan,” he said, then pointing an accusatory finger at Rhys, “Packed, you are not.”  
Rhys sighed heavily, “Yes, Master.” She said goodbye to her group of friends, then followed her Master back up to their rooms.   
“Excited, you are not,” Yoda said bluntly as soon as they had entered their rooms. Rhys ducked her head in shame and murmured a dejected, “Yes, Master.”  
Yoda grunted in approval as he sat on a small chair, “Honest, you are. Good. Excited you should not be.”  
Rhys looked up in surprise. “Why not, Master?”  
Yoda gave a small ‘Hmph’ and placed his hands on his gimer stick. “Excited, you should not be, Padawan. Seek excitement and adventure, a Jedi does not. Hard, this training is. A challenge, it will be.”  
“I’m not afraid of a challenge, Master!” Rhys said indignantly, “I’m not afraid of doing something hard!” Yoda fixed her with a stare.  
“Oh, you will be... You will be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to leave a comment or question!


	6. Chapter 6

Rhys breathed heavily as she pulled herself up the branch. Three weeks had passed since she and her Master had landed on Dagobah, and almost immediately Yoda had put his padawan to work building them a shelter and training in the surrounding jungle.   
“Climb to the top, he said. Shouldn’t be too hard, he said,” Rhys groused breathlessly as she pulled herself unto another ropey branch.   
Her task for the day was to procure several branches from the top of the largest tree in the immediate area – Master Yoda said that they were the best for keeping the ever-present moisture in the atmosphere out of their dwelling. She had already built the frame and thick muddy walls and now needed a good insulator for the roof. When Rhys reached the top of the tree she hastily cut off a few fuzzy branches and scrambled back down to where her Master was meditating.   
As soon as her boots hit the ground Yoda’s eyes snapped open. Rhys showed him her clutch of branches and he nodded approval at her prize.  
“Again,” he croaked, “More branches you will need to cover the roof, hrmm?”  
Rhys looked as if she wanted to protest, but listened to her Master and clambered up another tree. It took her several more hours and countless trips up more trees before Yoda was satisfied with the amount of branches for insulation.   
After a meager lunch of foraged food – which was rather tasteless and tough but better than space rations in Rhys’s opinion – Yoda set his padawan to shoring up the outside mud walls of their dwelling to prepare for the upcoming nightly rains. It was hard, dirty work that left Rhys sopping wet when she finished, but gave her some small amount of satisfaction that she completed the task her Master gave her.   
As she wiped her brow with a muddy hand Rhys thought about the months to come. It’s going to be a long year…

\----------

“Up, Padawan!”  
Rhys resisted the urge to roll over and say something rude, but thought better of it and rubbed the sleep from her bleary eyes. She had stayed up late the previous night tuning up their ship’s main control panel after the morning mist had seeped in and damaged it. She strapped on her chrono (a gift from Master Yoda on her ninth birthday a few months after arriving at the Temple), hopped from her bunk, and got dressed in her tank top, pants, and boots.  
The days had fallen into an easy routine after ten months on Dagobah: Rhys would wake up, meditate for an hour, make breakfast for her and her Master, then go for a run with her Master strapped to her shoulders. They would usually return around midday, eat lunch, and then have a lightsaber lesson until the evening meal. The time after the evening meal was usually reserved for Rhys’s private meditation, writing in her journal, and making any repairs to the house, equipment, or ship that needed to be done. Her Master usually used this time to contact the Council and have meetings over a holo.  
“Something different, today, I think,” Master Yoda said abruptly as the pair began their morning meditation. Rhys looked at him quizzically. They hadn’t changed their routine in months – why now?  
“Come, Padawan,” the old master said, hobbling out of the clearing where they had made their home. Rhys quickly followed her Master as he wove in between tree roots and branches easily. After an hour of walking through the dense foliage, Rhys called out to her Master.  
“How much farther, Master?” she asked tiredly.  
“Patience, Padawan,” he chided, “Do you good, it will.”  
Rhys fought a surge of annoyance at her Master’s words. When they had first arrived on Dagobah, he had said those exact words about ten times every day and had made her perform a kata every time he had to say it. Thankfully, Rhys no longer had to perform a kata every time he reminded her, but she still remembered the pain of holding a kata position for an hour. Rhys decided that she would much rather wait a little longer than endure pain and discomfort. She staved off her impatience by reciting the Jedi Code mentally:  
_There is no emotion, there is peace.  
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.  
There is no passion, there is serenity.  
There is no chaos, there is harmony.  
There is no death, there is the Force. _  
The sun was high in the sky by the time that Yoda decided to stop. Rhys didn’t say anything, but let her feelings of unease seep through their Force-bond. Her feeling of danger had been growing steadily for the past fifteen minutes, and had peaked when they had reached a large, cavernous opening in the ground.  
“What is this place?” she asked, subdued by her feelings of darkness, fear, and most of all the raging anger and hate that the cavern radiated. Yoda bowed his head in silent grief.  
“A scar, this place is. Wounded, the planet was, by the hate of the Sith. Centuries ago, fell, a young Jedi did to the flattery of the Dark Side. Killed, he was, but here remains his legacy of hate.” Yoda turned to his apprentice and said bluntly, “In you must go.”  
“What’s in there?” Rhys asked, edging closer to the open maw of the cave.  
“Only what you take with you,” was Yoda’s reply. Rhys took a deep breath and stepped into the waiting jaws of the cavern.   
The temperature was far colder than the misty world outside the cave, causing Rhys to shiver in the damp and chill. The cave was pitch black as far as she could see, with strange sounds echoing in the depths.  
All of a sudden, Rhys saw a small point of light in the darkness. Having nowhere else to go, she ran to the source of the light, her dual training sabers in hand. A bright flash of light illuminated the cave, blinding the young girl and causing her to close her eyes against the white light. When she opened them, she saw that she was no longer on Dagobah.  
_She was running through a beautiful building, battle droids hot on her heels. She turned around to face them with a smile on her face-  
“NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”_  
Rhys turned around to find the voice she could have recognized anywhere, but there was nothing but the darkness behind her. She could hear Obi-Wan screaming in grief and pain, could feel his anger coursing through the Force directed at some shadow. More voices came surging at her as the scenes changed.  
_“Since Tatooine…”  
Obi-Wan with a long padawan braid fighting battle droids-  
“And where do you think he heard about ‘Aggressive Negotiations’?”  
A hooded Sith Lord wielding two lightsabers with dual ends cutting down Jedi as if they were nothing, laughing in a cold high voice as she struck down a padawan and master-  
The same Sith woman kneeling before another Sith Lord, pledging to serve him and annihilate the Jedi, proclaiming, “I AM DARTH LAMIA!”  
“I have a bad feeling about this…”  
“Padmé!”   
“I can’t leave her!... She would do her duty…”  
Two men furiously battling against a red lightsaber that was skilled beyond them both-  
“Mommy, it was the Dark Man again…”  
A woman and a little boy fleeing on a small speeder while laser bolts rained around them-  
“Punch it, Chewie!”  
“Use the Force, Luke…”  
A little boy proudly showing a man and a woman how he was levitating a small stone above his hand, the man ruffling the boy’s auburn hair good-naturedly-  
“Your friend’s quite the mercenary…”  
“When you’ve lived as long as I have, you start to see the same eyes in different people. I’m looking at the eyes of a man who wants to run…”  
“Rey, these are your first steps…”  
The same two men now fighting against each other amidst rivers of fire and ash-  
“You turned her against me!”_  
“Enticing, isn’t it?”  
Rhys turned around as she heard the final voice behind her, revealing the Sith woman emerging from the shadows. Her four blades hummed menacingly, casting deep red shadows over the contours of the cave and blocking out all light. Her front two blades were as long as a regular lightsaber, but the back two were only a quarter size – probably vents for the cracked crystals. The woman stepped closer to Rhys and pulled off her hood and revealing her face.  
The face may have been aged by years, but the features were much of the same. Fuller lips, thickly braided hair, and yellow eyes couldn’t hide the resemblance to Rhys’s own visage. Rhys took a step back at the sight, while the older version of her merely sneered in contempt.  
“You’ll have everything you’ve ever wanted – power, respect, the passion of a man. You’ll save his life, and millions more, if you just say yes…. Embrace the power of the Dark Side!”  
“No…” Rhys panted, shocked by the words, “I won’t end like this!” Her reflection sneered at her words and levelled a saber end at her throat.  
_“Darth Lamia is your destiny!”_  
Rhys felt something burn through her midsection, then all went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments and questions!


	7. Chapter 7

Rhys awoke on her bunk with sore limbs and a pounding headache. She remembered going into the cave, the visions of war, and of-  
_No!_ She thought, sitting up quickly to expel the memory, _I will NEVER become that!_  
A small noise drew her attention to the entrance of her room where her Master was standing in the low doorway. He looked at her with sadness in his eyes, nodding his head in understanding.  
“Visions, you saw, hrmm?” Rhys hesitated, but nodded. Yoda gave a sigh, then turned around to leave the room.  
“They won’t come true, will they?” she asked softly, fear seeping into her voice. Yoda turned around to look at his padawan and shook his head.  
“Fear is the path to the Dark Side,” he chided gently, “Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate…. Leads only to suffering, Padawan. If no fear, you have, then in the Light you will stay.”  
“Thank you, Master.” Yoda smiled kindly and left the room.  
“Come, Padawan,” he called back to her, “Much to do, have we.”  
Rhys smiled, and stood up to join her Master in his meditation.

\----------

In the weeks following Rhys’s experience in the cave, Yoda had done his best to keep her mind off of what she had seen. When she asked why he was trying to kill her with work, the ancient Jedi had merely answered, “Dead, you are not. Work more, we shall,” accenting his words with several jabs of his gimer stick into his padawan’s side.  
As her tenth birthday came and went, Rhys realized that her time on Dagobah had made her much stronger and smarter than she would have ever been if she had stayed in the Temple for a year. Instead, she had endurance and strength to rival her Master’s, which was no easy feat. Her lightsaber skills had improved greatly over the course of time, but she still knew that Master Keelyvine would still desire more from her upon their return.   
They would be leaving Dagobah in a few weeks, and Master Yoda intended to make the last of the training retreat count. He had woken Rhys up significantly earlier than usual for their morning meditation, and insisted that she be prepared for just about anything that he could throw at her. This meant being able to deflect objects thrown at her with the Force as well as a lightsaber, more advanced tracking, and using the Force to heal any number of the small injuries she often sustained.   
“Late, you are, Padawan!” Yoda scolded her as she came down from the ship’s refresher. Rhys had taken to showering in the early mornings before their meditations and had been distracted by a particularly large tangle in her hair. Rhys had also started braiding small beads she had carved from the leftover tree branches needed for their dwelling.   
“Late I am not!” she replied indignantly, “I arrived precisely when I meant to.”  
Yoda just gave an annoyed ‘hmph’ and set her to complete a series of katas. Rhys did so, smiling at her Master’s actions. As much as he liked to pretend that she inconvenienced him, he did enjoy her presence at his meditations. 

\----------

As Rhys looked down from the ship’s ramp at the place that had been her home for a year she felt a pang of sadness sweep through her. As much as she didn’t like the mud and constant rain of the planet, Dagobah had greatly influenced her. The Force here was at its strongest, flowing through the billions of life forms that occupied the planet and created a pure, calm feeling.   
“Pure, the Force is here,” Yoda said, closing his eyes peacefully, “Miss it, I will.”  
Rhys smiled at the opportunity to reprimand her Master teasingly, “Now, Master, attachments a Jedi has not!” Astonishment flickered across the older Jedi’s face, followed by serenity once again.  
“Forgotten, I had, the burdens of a padawan,” he said, amusement twinkling in his eyes. Rhys gave a small smile and raised the ramp. Once they had gotten inside the pilot’s cabin, Yoda motioned with a small hand to the pilot’s chair.  
“To Coruscant, fly us.”  
Rhys stared in amazement at her Master. He had never let her pilot the ship before - when they had come to Dagobah, Yoda had flown the small craft and explained how all of the controls worked. She also had learned how to fix many components of the ship under his direction, eventually being able to keep the ship in working order by herself.   
With a cheerful, “Yes, Master!” Rhys all but jumped into the captain’s chair. Yoda merely shook his head and resigned himself for the long flight.

\----------

Much like her arrival at the Temple, Master Yoda’s ship was met by members of the Jedi High Council. Looking out onto the landing pad, Rhys could see the distinctive shapes of Mace Windu and Ki-Adi Mundi, but no Plo Koon this time.   
With Yoda assisting her at the controls, Rhys made a smooth landing that would have been on par with any other ace pilot. After powering off the ship she joined her Master on the ramp down to the landing pad below. As soon as she got a breath of the Coruscanti air, Rhys recoiled in disgust.  
“Used to fresher air, you are, Padawan,” Yoda said, making his way down the ramp, “Disappear over time, it will.” Rhys gave a heavy sigh and followed after her Master. After a brief welcome, Mace told Master Yoda of an upcoming Council meeting that he was being required to attend. Yoda dismissed his padawan, saying, “See me at evening meal, you will. Have the rest of the day to yourself, you do.” Rhys had bowed excitedly (to the great amusement of Masters Windu and Mundi) then rushed off to find her friends.  
She found them where they usually were around midday, clustered around a side table in the cafeteria. Garen was the first to see her, but with a motion for him to be quiet he concentrated on his food. All of them including Reeft and Aayla were present, but Rhys settled for surprising Obi-Wan the most. With absolutely no warning she jumped on her friend’s exposed back.  
Obi-Wan’s shriek of alarm was nothing compared to his cry of surprise once he realized who was on his back. Everyone laughed loudly, then enveloped Rhys in a big group hug.  
“It’s about time you got back here, Spits!” Garen hollered as Rhys pulled away from the hugs, rolling her eyes at the nickname he had given her.  
“It’s about time you grew up, Garen!” she retorted, earning a smirk from Siri. Garen, unfazed by her words after a lifetime of arguing with Siri, gave a lopsided grin and chuckled good-naturedly.  
“That was good,” Garen allowed.  
“You’ve definitely changed,” Siri said, motioning towards Rhys’s braided hair and slightly taller body. Rhys shrugged in reply. She was now nearly the height of both Siri and Bant, and was quickly catching up to Obi-Wan and Aayla.   
“Noticed a difference, I have not,” Rhys said, accepting a bowl of food from Reeft’s extras. Everyone around the table looked at her with utter shock written on their faces.  
“Um…. Rhys,” Obi-Wan said hesitantly, “You’re starting to talk like Master Yoda.” Rhys flushed red with embarrassment.  
“Sorry,” she apologized, “I guess that after having no one else to talk to after a year it’s started to rub off on me.”  
The topic then turned to the training Rhys had done over the course of the year. No one else had even heard about the swampy planet, and when Rhys described the strange trees, mist, and animals that inhabited the planet many of her friends cringed. She told them about her schedule, making the dwelling the she and her Master had shared, and the types of training Yoda had made her do. When the conversation turned to lightsaber practice the older Initiates’ faces fell.  
Obi-Wan’s final Tournament was within the week – if he didn’t have a master by the time he turned thirteen in two weeks he would be sent to the AgriCorps. Bruck Chun had made this fact painfully obvious to Obi-Wan, despite that his own birthday wasn’t long after Obi-Wan’s. Garen and Bant both had some time and another Tournament to display their skills, but shared Obi-Wan’s worry of being sent to the AgriCorps.  
“Still moping about the Tournament, Oafy-Wan?” Rhys turned sharply to see the white-haired boy sneering at them from by the door. “Maybe everyone will finally see that you’re only fit for the AgriCorps,” he mocked cruelly, stalking out of the cafeteria. Obi-Wan’s face set in determination as he stood up.  
“He’s all talk, Obi,” Bant said in an attempt to breach the gap, “You’ll beat him!”  
Obi-Wan nodded resolutely, said his goodbyes, then left in the direction of the Training Room. Bant sighed heavily as she realized that her efforts were wasted. The group of friends drifted apart after that – Bant to the Room of a Thousand Fountains for a swim, Aayla and Siri to lessons, Reeft to training with his Master, and Garen and Rhys following Obi-Wan to the Training Room.  
They found him sparring furiously against a simulation, completely blocking out the world around him. Garen and Rhys watched him spar until he deftly disarmed the simulation droid. Obi-Wan looked around in frustration at his victory, leaving the disarmed simulation in a pile with several other simulations. Knowing what needed to be done, Rhys stepped forward before Obi-Wan could take his frustration out on another droid and possibly break it.  
“You need a better outlet,” she said, pulling him over to one of the empty sparring rings by a wrist. Garen looked on in amusement as Rhys ignited her dual purple training sabers. “Ready.” Obi-Wan sighed mutinously, but ignited his own saber and took a ready stance.   
Surprisingly, Obi-Wan attacked first with a powerful down stroke that would have shattered Rhys’ defense if not for the support of her secondary lightsaber. The young padawan countered with a series of quick jabs that cut through Obi-Wan’s of defense and nearly made it through.   
Obi-Wan disengaged with a look of surprise on his face – he had not expected her to be quite as skilled as she was now. The look on her face was clear: _Neither of us are going to hold back._ He was even more surprised to see her give a Bruck-like smirk in clear mocking of him.  
Anger flooded over Obi-Wan at her actions, compelling him to ruthlessly beat against her twin sabers. The two fought furiously for several minutes, unaware that they were acquiring a large group of spectators around their sparring ring. Purple clashed against bright blue, sending bursts of light scattering over the ring.  
Rhys knew that what Obi-Wan lacked was focus in his fighting, allowing the smallest words from his opponent to pierce through his defenses. She remembered one of Yoda’s favorite exercises to give her: Sparring with her while providing distraction enough to try and shake her focus from a task. If Obi-Wan was visibly shaken by her smirk, what would happen if she started mocking him outright, much like Bruck did?  
“You’ll have to do better than that,” she said, locking her blades with Obi-Wan’s, “You’ll never stand a chance against Bruck!” Obi-Wan growled irritably at her words and forced her out of the lock.  
Rhys smiled inwardly as she retreated from engagement. That was exactly the response she was looking for. If he allowed his emotions to get the better of him, Obi-Wan would become reckless and blind. She knew that it wasn’t necessarily her that he was taking his anger out at, but he needed to get it out regardless of the target. She would not allow her friend to fail himself at the Tournament because of something he couldn’t control.   
She came back at him with a ferocious combination that left Obi-Wan on unsteady footing, a mistake that she took advantage of. With little warning, Rhys dropped to one foot, sweeping her leg out and catching Obi-Wan’s exposed knees. He dropped like a bag of sand onto the padded mats below. When he finally figured out what had happened, a purple blade was pointed at his throat.   
“Do you yield?” Rhys asked calmly as if it was only coincidence that he was laying on the ground. Realizing that he’d lost, Obi-Wan nodded and took the hand Rhys offered to pull him up. As soon as he was steady on his feet Rhys placed a hand on his arm.  
“You need to work on your focus,” she said frankly, “You cannot allow yourself or an opponent to get inside your head, understand?” Obi-Wan nodded, eyes downcast in shame at what he had done.  
“I’m sorry,” he apologized, “I didn’t want to take my anger out on you.”  
Rhys shrugged, “I may not have been the target, but it needed to be released. Feel better?”  
“Loads.”  
“Good,” Rhys smiled, extending a hand of peace, “Same time tomorrow?”  
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and questions are appreciated!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello people, SpeechBubbleMe here! There are a couple of important items on the docket today that have been brought to my attention and here they are!  
>  \- To all of those viewers out there….. Please leave comments! I cannot express to the high heavens how helpful and encouraging they are! Also, if you have any story ideas or storyline preferences for this particular story, please PM me! I would love to answer any questions or talk…. It’s kind of what I do best!  
>  \- I am currently looking for an experienced beta-tester that specializes in grammar, characterization, and has a very thorough knowledge of the Star Wars universe. Please PM me if you would like to be my beta or if you know someone who would be willing.  
>  \- Posting Schedule – As of yet, I don’t have a regular posting schedule. Because I do have college and work my schedule is a little erratic (I feel like I’m saying “schedule” too much…. Schedule, schedule, schedule, schedule…). Currently, I plan on posting one or two chapters a week. Fortunately, this particular story is finished, but I still plan on keeping this schedule for my next story, Across The Stars: The Phantom Menace.  
>  \- It has been brought to my attention that I am slacking in the disclaimer department, so here it is – DISCLAIMER: Unfortunately, I do not own the Star Wars franchise. Shocking, I know. If I did, I would be a very happy potato.  
>  Without further ado….. A WILD CHAPTER APPEARS!!

The week preceding the Tournament saw Obi-Wan sparring nearly every moment of free time with Rhys, Garen, and occasionally Aayla and Siri. His focus was improving now that he was aware of the problem, no longer allowing petty insults to shake him. Finally, the day before the Tournament arrived and found Obi-Wan and Rhys sparring right after their morning meal.   
“Ready,” Rhys said, igniting her lightsabers. Their sparring matches had quickly become an item of interest in the Temple, gathering a crowd whenever they fought. Many of the spectators were younglings or Initiates that frequented the Training Room, but all walks of Jedi had been seen observing them, including several Council members.   
“Ready,” Obi-Wan replied, settling into a grounded stance.  
Unusually, Rhys was the first to attack, whipping her blades around in an attempt to distract Obi-Wan. Unfazed, he countered her glancing blows and immediately went on the defensive. Rhys smirked at the expected move and countered it with a rain of blows from varying angles.   
Obi-Wan’s favored style was Ataru, an aggressive style that utilized skilled Force-assisted acrobatics. The fourth Form was particularly effective against a single opponent, but could be modified easily to suit the wielder’s needs. However, the high acrobatics took their toll, forcing Obi-Wan to stick to shorter engagements.   
The battle lasted several minutes longer with both sides soon showing signs of fatigue. Obi-Wan, eager to end it, swiped at Rhys’s legs in an attempt to throw her off balance. She successfully parried the blows and came after him with both of her sabers from two directions. He managed to lock her blades, twisting slightly to wrench her left hand from its saber. Rhys disengaged, calmly switching to Form V, Djem So, and taking a reverse grip on her lightsaber hilt. Obi-Wan was taken aback by the unorthodox maneuver and was forced back by her long, sweeping blows.   
As soon as she was within range, Rhys called her other lightsaber back into her hand and switched back to her signature Jar’Kai. They were sparring with the traditional Tournament rules – first to inflict three burns on their opponent or to fully disarm them was the victor. A participant could also yield with a cry of “Solah”, ending the match.   
“Are you ready to yield yet, Obi?” Rhys teased as they locked blades.  
“Never!” Obi-Wan vowed fervently, pushing her off and scoring a shot through her defenses that resulted in a small shoulder burn. Their lightsabers were on a low enough setting to prevent any serious damage, but the burns inflicted hurt enough to provide an ample distraction while fighting.   
Rhys scored the next two points in quick succession, landing two touches on both of his wrists in the traditional cho mai contact with a blindingly fast combination. If her lightsaber had been up to full power Obi-Wan would have lost both of his hands. However, when she withdrew from the engagement she missed her footing. Obi-Wan took advantage of her misstep and scored his second hit – a narrow burn just below her hip.  
Limping slightly, Rhys switched styles again, this time going for the mainly defensive form of Soresu. It wasn’t her strong suit, but allowed her to conserve energy that she sorely needed to shield herself from Obi-Wan’s stronger blows. His main advantage against her was his natural strength paired with his use of two hands while wielding his blade.   
Obi-Wan attacked harder than ever before, trying to find a way through her two-bladed defense. To the average observer their fight looked like a very carefully coordinated dance that both participants knew by heart, which in a sense they did. Both Rhys and Obi-Wan had trained extensively to make reflex decisions by using the Force to see what their opponent was doing.   
Tiring quickly and eager to end the duel, Rhys made her final move and maneuvered into a blade-lock. “You’ve gotten better,” she admitted as they met over the lightsabers.  
“I would think that the past few days of getting beaten into the mats would have taught me at least something new,” Obi-Wan quipped drily.  
“Don’t get cocky,” Rhys warned, and with no warning deactivated her left lightsaber and reignited it once within Obi-Wan’s defenses. The unexpected trick threw him off guard and allowed Rhys to disarm him and knock him onto the mat with a well-placed kick.  
“You know, I’m starting to get tired of our sparring matches ending like this,” he remarked, staring at the length of purple lightsaber angled at his throat.   
“Do you yield?” Rhys asked lightly.  
“As always.”  
“Good,” Rhys extended a hand and helped him up. “You must always expect the unexpected from your opponent. Your control has improved a lot over the week, as has your footwork. I think you’re ready.”  
Obi-Wan looked at her uncertainly. “Are you sure?”  
“Positive,” she answered confidently, then whispered, “Go win that Tournament!” Obi-Wan smiled thankfully at her. Rhys opened her mouth to say something else, but was stopped by a familiar presence in the Force nearby. She turned around to see Qui-Gon standing with a female Noorian Jedi on the outskirts of the mats and watching their match.   
“Master Qui-Gon!” Rhys exclaimed excitedly. She hadn’t seen her friend since she’d left for Dagobah with Master Yoda. She hurriedly rushed out of the confines of the sparring ring to greet him with Obi-Wan trailing behind.   
“Hello Rhys,” Qui-Gon greeted warmly, suppressing a chuckle at her antics, “Enjoying yourself?”  
Rhys nodded with a glance back at Obi-Wan who had been waylaid by Aayla. The blue-skinned Twi’lek was constantly trying to convince him that he needed to train in Soresu – she firmly believed that his fighting style and defensive mindset would pair well with the third Form of combat.   
“Are you coming to the Tournament tomorrow?”  
Qui-Gon looked over at the female Jedi beside him. She nodded encouragingly back. “Yes,” he answered hesitantly, than more assured, “Master Tahl and I will be watching the Tournament.”  
“Are you looking for a padawan?” Rhys asked innocently. Qui-Gon sighed heavily, looking frustrated until Master Tahl nudged him. He looked over at her begrudgingly as she smiled.  
“Perhaps,” he allowed.  
There was an awkward silence as the Noorian beside Qui-Gon attempted to get him to further elaborate. Their mental conversation, though unheard, was clearly felt by Rhys. As she felt along further in the Force, she discovered a suppressed Force-bond. It wasn’t large enough to be completely accepted by Qui-Gon, but it was far too large to ignore. She was surprised to find that Obi-Wan was on the other end of the Force-bond. He was probably aware of some small connection, but was ignoring it as well.   
Tahl seemed to notice Rhys probing along the lines of the Force-bond and sent a wave of encouragement in her direction. Rhys glanced at Tahl, still involved in a great mental debate with Qui-Gon. She smiled, as if to say, “He does this all the time”, then went back to persuading Qui-Gon. After a fraction of time Rhys felt the tension in their conversation rise, peak, then shatter abruptly. Qui-Gon risked a furtive look across the room at Obi-Wan, bowed stiffly at Rhys and Tahl, then stalked angrily out of the Training Room. Rhys stared in bewilderment at his hastily retreating figure.   
“What was that?” she asked, more to herself than anyone else.  
Tahl sighed in frustration, “Old wounds that I thought would have healed by now.”  
“He’s not the most open person, is he?” Rhys remarked. Tahl answered with a pealing laugh as she put a hand on the padawan’s shoulder.   
“No, he’s not. I had hoped to mellow him out more over the years, but it may take several more before he’s truly open with anyone.” Tahl sighed, then shook her head. “I’m afraid Qui-Gon didn’t introduce us properly – he’s never really one for anything proper, really. I’m Master Tahl, one of Qui-Gon’s best friends. We were in the same Initiate Clan.”  
“Rhys Talik. Master Qui-Gon found me on Naboo.”   
“Yes, he told me about that,” Tahl answered with a twinkle in her eyes, “He was quite taken with you.”  
Rhys was about to answer when something bumped into her from behind. Out of reflex she caught the person’s legs in a sweep that brought them crashing to the floor. It was only when she looked down at the person on the floor did she realize who it was.  
“Kriff it, Rhys, that hurt!” Obi-Wan said, rubbing the back of his head where it hit the floor.  
“Sorry, Obi,” she said as she helped him up, “Call it reflex after a year of training on a jungle world.” Master Tahl looked on with mirth dancing on her face. “Why did you back into me anyway?”  
Obi-Wan rubbed his sore spots, regret obvious on his face, “I was trying to sneak away from Aayla – you know how she gets on one of her rants – and I think I might have, too, if you hadn’t taken me out.”  
“Ah…. Sorry…”  
“No, it’s fine, Rhys. Just….. Don’t do it on me again, okay? That kriffing hurt!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments and questions!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Flowergoddessbrittany for her awesome comment! Sorry for the slow updates, my internet connection is a little rocky these days! Also, many kudos to my friend Aldebaran Fox for letting em use her character Sony-Da!

“Relax, Obi.”  
Bant was attempting to soothe Obi-Wan during breakfast before the Tournament, but was having little success. The Mon Calamari girl was showing signs of annoyance when Obi-Wan picked at his food, too nervous to really eat. He tried to give Reeft his full plate of food, but the Dressellian wouldn’t have it and insisted that Obi-Wan eat to maintain his strength. He did, albeit grudgingly, then walked with the rest of the group to the Training Room.  
“Are you ready to get your butt kicked across the mats, Oafy-Wan?” Bruck sneered as soon as he caught sight of them, “If that little girl can beat you to the ground I guess it won’t be too much of a challenge!”  
Rhys started towards Bruck in anger, but was surprised to be stopped by Obi-Wan’s hand barring her from moving any closer. Obi-Wan didn’t say anything and kept walking forward, one hand on Rhys’ shoulder in solidarity. Bruck laughed cruelly at his back.  
“You have to get a little girl to fight your battles for you now, Oafy-Wan? Leave the Temple already and spare everyone the embarrassment of looking at you!”  
Obi-Wan could feel Rhys’ shoulders begin to rise at the insults and could sense her rising anger through the Force. Garen and Siri mimicked her with fists and jaws clenched. Once Bruck was out of earshot, Obi-Wan turned to his friends.   
“You can’t let him get to you,” he said calmly.   
“You’re right,” Rhys muttered, “We can’t lose focus now.”  
“It doesn’t make it any easier to deal with him,” Siri grouched, “We still have to listen to the kriffing-”  
“Siri…” Obi-Wan warned. Siri huffed a sigh, having the decency to look a little repentant. Garen, however, was still fuming over the insults. Obi-Wan clapped him on the shoulder, “Come on, we’ve got to prepare for the Tournament.”  
As the rest of the Initiates got to their places for the start of the Tournament, Reeft and Rhys made their way into the stands to sit by their Masters. Master Binn Ibes was sitting a few rows below Master Yoda, so Rhys made the final steps to her Master alone. Qui-Gon and Tahl were sitting a few rows above Yoda, Windu, and Ki-Adi Mundi. Rhys took a seat next to her Master and watched the opening announcements of the Tournament.   
The Tournament began, as always, with the younger groups. The matches flew by in a quick blur until Rhys noticed that it was time for Aayla and Siri’s match. The two girls were pitted against each other once again – this time with Siri being the first to score three points.   
Bant, predictably, made it to the quarterfinals but lost to a large Wookiee. Garen, ironically, fought the same Wookiee in the next round, dancing around the large Initiate and scoring three points with ease. To her great annoyance, Rhys saw that Bruck Chun was one of the semi-finalists. With Garen winning the match for third place, the entire arena held its breath in anticipation of the final match.   
Rhys suppressed her distaste as Bruck swaggered into the ring. Although she was too far to see the expression on Obi-Wan’s face, Rhys could see that he was holding on to his control. The acting referee and Temple Battle Master Cin Drallig conducted the formalities – each boy never breaking eye contact with the other as they bowed.  
The match started as Bruck ignited his yellow-bladed lightsaber and attacked with a crushing overhead blow. Obi-Wan merely sidestepped, his lightsaber still unlit and in his hand. The next few passes comprised of Obi-Wan dancing around Bruck like an insect around a drunken Bantha, with Bruck emitting more rage with every swing. His movements were no longer as practiced and strong – now they were more akin to a youngling stumbling around attempting to hit a blaster remote.   
Obi-Wan finally ignited his lightsaber and scored the first point of the match – a quick burn on Bruck’s thigh. The other boy looked as if he was ready to bellow in rage and struck wildly in an attempt to wound Obi-Wan. Rhys could feel Bruck’s rage peaking as he crushed his lightsaber into Obi-Wan’s, forcing a blade lock. The blue and yellow blades hummed and whirred as they pressed against each other, hissing loudly when Obi-Wan twisted out of contact.   
As the two fought on, Obi-Wan began to tire. His Ataru wasn’t meant for long battles and the acrobatic form took its toll as he flipped away from Bruck. Bruck’s rage gave him strength, and he scored a glancing burn that marked the side of Obi-Wan’s tunic.   
The next two points were in quick succession: Bruck received a small burn on the side of his forearm, and Obi-Wan a long burn to the back of his knee. As Obi-Wan retreated from the engagement Bruck followed after with a menacing grin on his face.  
_I have to end this soon_ , Obi-Wan thought as Bruck forced him into another blade lock. He hurriedly disengaged, then fell into the defensive stance of Soresu. Bruck laughed mockingly at him.  
“Do you really think that you can beat me with defense?” he hissed, battering away at Obi-Wan’s defenses.  
“No, I don’t,” Obi-Wan responded, “I’m going to do it like this.” He feinted as if he was going to use a Force-push and when Bruck stepped back to ground himself Obi-Wan caught his unequal footing and swept his legs in a similar way that Rhys often beat him. A moment later Bruck was glaring at a blue blade pointed at his face.   
“Yield,” he said calmly at the fuming boy. Bruck glared for a few more moments, then turned off his saber.  
“Solah,” Bruck muttered bitterly, refusing the hand that was offered and pulling himself to unsteady feet. He stalked off the mat and out of the Training Room, screaming his frustration and anger into the Force.  
Once Cin Drallig had congratulated Obi-Wan on his victory the boy was immediately swarmed by his friends. Aayla, Siri, and Bant nearly knocked him over with the force of their hugs, with Garen, Reeft, and Rhys not far behind them. Obi-Wan was beaming as Initiates and Masters that he had never even talked to before came up to him and congratulated him on his victory.   
“Initiate Kenobi.”  
Obi-Wan turned around to face Master Windu, who was holding out a small award that marked him as the victor of the Tournament. Jedi generally didn’t have many possessions – Initiates generally had few – so the small award was something that many Initiates in the Tournaments had their eyes on. Obi-Wan thanked Master Windu breathlessly as he accepted the award. Almost as soon as Windu left Obi-Wan was once again surrounded by his friends.   
“Excuse me, Initiate Kenobi, but might I have a word?” The seven friends turned around to see Master Sony-Da standing outside of their group. “Perhaps somewhere quieter?”  
“Of course, Master,” Obi-Wan answered, handing off his award to Bant and following the tall blonde Jedi out of the room.   
Rhys watched them go with a strange feeling in her chest. She followed Obi-Wan’s Force-signature until they were too far away, then focused on her surroundings once she felt the presence of another near her.  
“Uneasy, you are, Padawan,” Yoda said as he hobbled over to his apprentice, “Feel that something is amiss, you do?”  
Rhys turned to her Master, “Yes, Master. I just feel….. like it’s not right.”  
Yoda closed his eyes thoughtfully, “Trust your feelings, you must. Come, Padawan. Search out the source of this feeling, we will.”   
Rhys followed her Master out of the emptying Training Room, passing into the main corridor with countless other Jedi. Obi-Wan’s Force-signature was weakened, but still present. They made their way towards all of the more popular meditation places, trying to find the slight ripple in the Force. After several minutes, Rhys spotted Master Windu talking in a side corridor with Qui-Gon, who looked a little upset. Yoda held up a small hand for her to stop once they were within hearing distance, respecting the Master’s privacy.  
Rhys waited a few moments alongside her Master, watching the conversation before her. She was itching with impatience – the Force nearly screaming at her to act. Master Yoda had once explained to her that because of her strong connection to the Force, she would often feel drawn by the will of the Force in many different directions. This resulted in a sort of hyper-activity that was amplified by her young age and relative lack of mental discipline.   
**Patience, Padawan,** Yoda chided over their mental connection. Rhys huffed a sigh and settled herself in for a long wait when Qui-Gon abruptly stiffened and fled the corridor in the direction of the Master’s meditation gardens. Mace shot after him, worry and confusion written on his face. At her Master’s motion, Rhys ran after them, only to stop when she heard a cry of pain surge through the Force.   
Rhys was struck by its intensity, stumbling slightly and placing a hand on the wall. The Force-signature was definitely Obi-Wan’s. For a moment, her mental shields slipped, and a fresh wave of visions spilled into her mind.  
_My name is Anakin, and I’m a person!  
I’ve got a very bad feeling about this…  
Yoda was my teacher, much like you were once his. Together we will destroy the Sith!_  
And the most chilling – _You have done well, my apprentice. Now rise, Darth Lamia, and take your place by my side!_  
“Padawan,”  
Rhys felt a comforting hand on her arm and snapped her shields back into place. Yoda was standing next to her with Mace’s apprentice Depa Billaba hanging back. The older padawan must have sensed her Master’s worry and had followed him here.   
“Stay here, you must,” Yoda said, “Ward off others from this place, you must, until we return.” He entered the room, Depa close behind. Rhys felt along their bond, and realized that he was showing her what he saw along the short mental distance.  
**“Not to the likes of you!” Sony-Da spat, “The boy is mine – I don’t care what that troll Yoda says, I don’t care what anyone says! I’m going to be the greatest Master there ever was, and you are going to bow at my feet!” With a roar, Sony-Da threw himself at Qui-Gon, his blue saber clashing against Qui-Gon’s green.  
“Wrong you are, Sony-Da.”  
Sony-Da, stunned enough by Yoda’s appearance was caught off guard enough for Qui-Gon to sever his lightsaber hilt, rendering it useless. Rhys could feel his rage through the bond with her Master, and could only imagine the intensity if she was in the room. She now understood the other reason that Yoda had set her to guarding the door – her mental shields weren’t strong enough yet to withstand the battering of pure hate surging from Sony-Da.  
Rhys watched as Mace, Depa, Qui-Gon, and her Master moved as one to throw the crazed Master backwards. No one moved as they realized that Sony-Da was out cold. Depa was the first to break the silence, kneeling over an unconscious Obi-Wan. Qui-Gon soon joined her, concerned for the young Initiate, while Mace summoned the Temple Guards to stand guard over the senseless Sony-Da.**  
With a slight mental prodding from Yoda, Rhys withdrew from the mental connection. **Fetch the Healers, Padawan,** came to her mind, along with a wave of reassurance. Rhys sent back a mental affirmation and rushed off to the Healers Wing.


	10. Chapter 10

“They’re in the Master’s meditation gardens, hurry!” Rhys cried. Barrit Chopa and a team of healers followed closely behind the young padawan, the Mirialan Master Healer Y’Chiryō next to him carrying an anti-grav stretcher. The robed Temple Guards weren’t far behind, flocking to Master Windu’s side and taking up positions around the motionless Sony-Da.   
“Master Jinn!” The Mirialan Master rushed to Qui-Gon’s side by Obi-Wan, scanning the boy’s body to discover the extent of his injuries. Rhys was astonished by the amount of blood on her friend’s face and the deep bruising surrounding his neck. He also had a gash on the back of his head from when he had fallen – presumably on the remains of a stone bench that was now in pieces around him – and most likely several broken ribs.   
“What in the Force?” Y’Chiryō murmured softly, “What happened?”  
“He was attacked,” Qui-Gon explained to his friend.   
“I can see that. We need to get him back to the Healer’s Wing now,” he ordered, directing the rest of the Healers to help him move Obi-Wan onto the anti-grav stretcher. On his orders another Healer was dispatched to prep a bacta tank and surgery. “Careful,” Y’Chiryō warned as they levitated him slowly onto the stretcher, “Right, let’s go!”  
Qui-Gon went to follow the Healers, but hesitated. Yoda laid a hand on the worried Master’s arm.  
“Go with them, you should. Watch Sony-Da, we shall. Need you, Obi-Wan will.” With a nod of gratitude, Qui-Gon hurried after the Healers, his concern for Obi-Wan flickering through the fledgling bond.  
As soon as Qui-Gon was out of earshot, Mace and Yoda began discussing the fate of Sony-Da with Depa chiming in occasionally. Rhys felt a cold wave of fear when Mace had described what the crazed Jedi had done to the boy that had refused to be his padawan. His lingering hatred of Qui-Gon and lust for power and recognition had eventually driven him to the Dark Side, attacking and beating Obi-Wan within an inch of his life.   
The decision was eventually reached to hand Sony-Da over to the Temple Authorities, and confer with the other Council Members as for what to do with him until a proper trial could be organized. Yoda agreed to the emergency session of the Council, instructing Rhys to wait outside the Council chambers with Depa until they were finished.   
As they sat together, both padawans were reluctant to talk about what they had just witnessed. Instead, they sat in companionable silence until the doors opened and the Council emerged. Depa immediately questioned her Master about the decision.  
The Korun Master sighed heavily before replying, “He will be under surveillance for his and our safety. The Council has also agreed to repress his connection to the Force for the time being until his trial.” Depa nodded and followed her Master out of the room.   
“Padawan, something wrong there is, hrmm?” Yoda asked once the room was empty. Rhys hesitated before answering.  
“Why would a Jedi Master attack an Initiate?” she begged, “Why did he do it?” Yoda was quiet for a long time, then answered his padawan’s desperate question.  
“The Dark Side of the Force clouds everything, Padawan. Full of hate, Sony-Da was. Part of the Light he is no longer.” Rhys nodded her head in grim understanding.  
“Will Obi-Wan be okay, Master?” Yoda chuckled softly in response.  
“A strong bond with Master Jinn, he has. Grow greatly in the years to come, I think it will. Forged through the will of the Force, it was.” Rhys agreed with her Master – the bond she had felt between Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon was as nearly as strong as the one between Master Yoda and herself, and theirs had been nearly two years in the making.  
“They will be a great pair,” Rhys concurred, knowing that Force had brought them together for a reason. Master Yoda grunted in affirmative, then walked towards the elevator. Rhys joined him in the lift, staring out over the view of Coruscant traffic.  
To Rhys’s surprise, the lift stopped on the main level. She looked to her Master in confusion. “Training with Master Keelyvine, you have,” he reminded her. Rhys’ shoulders sagged as she got out of the lift. Her Jar’Kai training sessions with Master Keelyvine always ended with her receiving more bruises and burns and a great deal of homework. Upon seeing his padawan’s melancholy expression, Yoda gently reminded her, “Visit Obi-Wan, you may, in the morning. See you at dinner, I will.”  
“Yes, Master,” Rhys replied with a bow as he Master headed off to the Healer’s Wing. 

\----------

“Left saber up, right cut, cross defend!”  
Rhys was sweating heavily as Master Keelyvine put her through a rigorous round of katas. The stern Master was hardly winded and there wasn’t a single hair out of place of her usual severe bun and pins. She had been the padawan of Master Dooku, sharing his demand of perfection when it came to saber skills, disdain of humor, and total lack of apathy towards her students.   
“Run through the kata again, then practice the vaulting technique. I expect to see you in two days’ time for another sparring session. You are required to complete the first twenty katas tomorrow ten times.” With that succinct instruction, Keelyvine straightened her green workout suit and purposefully exited the Training Room.   
As soon as her instructor left the room, Rhys bemoaned her aching body. Master Keelyvine always opened their training sessions with a very demanding stretch routine to warm up for a spar and determine if Rhys had done her homework correctly. It was exhausting, but that’s why Rhys always scheduled their sessions for the three hours before dinner so that she would eat well and meditate with her Master after.  
The training sessions also made her so tired that she went to sleep quickly and didn’t have as many Force-induced nightmares. Rhys wasn’t mentally strong enough to maintain a resilient shield in her sleep, so her solution was to make herself so physically and mentally tired by the end of the day that she slept deeply until it was time for her dawn meditation. Rhys steeled herself and ran through the kata and vaulting technique one more time before taking a quick shower and changing out of her workout clothes.   
Yoda was waiting for her in the Master’s refectory nearest their room. She picked up a tray of food – an assortment of Rylothian fruits and meats – and sat across from her Master. It had become a tradition to eat their evening meal together in silence since Rhys was usually too tired to talk much. Once they had finished eating, they made their way back to their shared rooms to meditate. Rhys sat down in her usual spot to begin meditation, but was stopped by Yoda.  
“Troubled by the events of today, you were, Padawan,” Yoda said bluntly.   
“Yes, Master,” she replied, bowing her head, “I’m…. worried, I guess.” Yoda prompted her to continue. “About Master Sony-Da leaving the Light and attacking Obi-Wan…. Do you think that I could go Dark?”  
Yoda sat thoughtfully for a moment, then spoke ponderously, “Always in motion, the future is. Still have visions of Darth Lamia, do you?” Rhys nodded slowly, fear creeping into her heart. “Conquer these visions, you must,” he said firmly, resting his hands on his gimer stick, “Like a river, the Force is. Many different currents there are, and many breaks in the water. Tell the future, I cannot. Only glimpses through the power of the Force.”  
“Thank you, Master.”  
Yoda grunted as he sat down beside her to meditate, “Too young you are to worry about the future. When eight hundred years you be, then have you the time for the worries of the future. Be mindful of your thoughts, Padawan.”  
Rhys let his words sink in and let her mind slip into an easy meditation. It had become much easier to meditate with the constant practice. She still felt like she was being plugged into an electrical circuit, but no longer had the sensation of being overwhelmed by the Force. After a few moments, Rhys felt another Force-induced vision build up behind her mental walls. She tried to suppress it, but a gnarled hand on her arm made her pause. Rhys opened her eyes to find her Master gazing at her serenely.  
“Let it come. Resist the Force, we should not. Help you through it, I will.” Rhys nodded, closing her eyes and letting the vision gently through her walls. Simply letting the vision take hold was far less painful than resisting the raging current.  
_“You know, Master, this may end up with us using aggressive negotiations.”  
Rhys could see a young Jedi Master with her padawan, a human boy that looked to be about twelve. They were walking side-by-side in an ornate hallway, presumably on an off world mission.  
“Where did you hear that?” the Master asked, darker robes swishing as she walked. The padawan had the grace to blush a bit, dipping his head.  
“Well… Padawan Kenobi might have said it once or twice on the last mission I went on with him and Master Jinn.” The Master shook her head in humorous annoyance at her padawan.   
“If I leave you with Master Jinn and Padawan Kenobi for much longer, one might think that you’re his padawan instead of mine,” the Master said drily. Her padawan grinned cheekily in response.  
“Well, Master, if you didn’t leave me for your Shadow missions…” he trailed off innocently. The Master wasn’t fooled.  
“We’ll see, Padawan. We’ll see.”_  
The vision faded with the ebbing flow of the Force around her. For the first time ever, Rhys was left with a feeling of hope for the future. The Master that she had seen bore a remarkable resemblance to her earlier nightmares of Darth Lamia, but this woman seemed more… caring, less harsh. She was missing the dark makeup and thickly braided hair accompanied by flaming lightsabers, but her features were eerily similar.   
“The future, you have seen, hrmm?” Yoda queried, jolting Rhys from her thoughts. She nodded, opening her eyes.  
“I believe so,” she answered, “Was that…. Me? With a padawan? And Obi-Wan and Master Jinn?”  
Yoda nodded sagely, “Seen this, I have. A great Master, you will be, if follow the will of the Force you do.”   
“Thank you, Master,” Rhys said gratefully. The ancient Master looked at her kindly, then stood up, clasping his gimer stick firmly.  
“Late it is, Padawan. Sleep, you must.” Rhys stood and bowed.  
“Yes, Master.” As she headed to her bedroom, she called over her shoulder, “Goodnight, Master.”  
“And to you, Padawan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments and questions!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooray for quick updates! As there is no docket, I only have one request… Please Review!!! I cannot tell you enough how much it means to have feedback on your writing! That being said, here is the disclaimer: Seeing as I am not George Lucas…. Or Disney…. Or rich at all…. I don’t own the wonderful universe of Star Wars. Incidentally, I also don’t own the characters Sony-Da or Y’Chiryō. Both are the lovely creation of AldabaranFox.

After the dawn meditation with her Master, Rhys headed down to the main cafeteria to eat breakfast with her friends. Obi-Wan’s absence was painfully obvious as the group of friends sat together in comforting silence. There was some cause for joy, though. Aayla had been chosen by the Jedi Knight Quinlan Vos to be his padawan.   
When everyone had finished eating, the six friends trooped up to the Healer’s Wing to see Obi-Wan. They were stopped by the sight of Qui-Gon Jinn coming out of the main Healing Hall.   
“Master Qui-Gon, were you visiting Obi-Wan?” Rhys asked as the other went in the room. Qui-Gon nodded his assent.  
“Yes, he’s been awake for most of the morning.” Rhys could feel the Force screaming at her to say something until she could hold it in no longer.  
“Did you ask him to be your padawan?” She blurted, covering her mouth in embarrassment once the words had left her. Qui-Gon smiled warmly at her flushed face.  
“Yes, Rhys, I did last night after he woke up from surgery.” Rhys’ face broke into a beaming smile.  
“That’s great!” she exclaimed, “Now Obi-Wan and Aayla can go to the Padawan Ceremony together!” Noticing her excitement and growing anticipation for seeing Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon waved her through the door. She bid him farewell with a frantic, “Thanks, Qui-Gon – er… Master Jinn!”  
“You’re welcome, Padawan Talik.”

\----------

Obi-Wan had seemed a little tired, but happy to see his friends. They were wise enough not to ask him what had happened, but with the spreading news of Master Sony-Da’s attack on an Initiate they already knew most of what had happened. Many of their class teachers had told them how their Lightsaber Teacher had fallen to the Dark Side, lashing out on an Initiate that turned him down. Some of the Mind Healers had been dispatched to comfort some of the more empathetic younglings that could still feel Sony-Da’s rage echoing through the Temple.  
Obi-Wan’s friends were especially pleased to hear about his advancement to padawan, and rejoiced with him and Aayla. If he was well enough, Obi-Wan could join Aayla and the other Initiates chosen as padawans in the ceremony held in two days. Their visit was interrupted by Y’Chiryō who had noticed that Obi-Wan was due for another bacta treatment for his broken ribs. The Master Healer shooed the six friends out of the Healing Wing to their protest.  
“Poor Obi,” Bant lamented as soon as Y’Chiryō closed the doors on them, “He hates being stuck in the Healing Wing.”  
“Do you remember the time Obi tried to climb the crèche walls and broke his arm?” Garen asked. Everyone but Rhys and Aayla laughed at the memory. Seeing the two girls’ confused faces, Garen elaborated on the story, illustrating how as a youngling he and Obi-Wan had dared each other to climb the sconce-filled walls of the crèche they shared. Garen had made it don safely, but Obi had fallen and broken his arm. Their crèche Master, Vena Kaa, had rushed him to the Healers and ordered him to stay there through the night.   
Apparently, Obi-Wan had not been content to stay in his assigned bed in the Healing Halls and had snuck back into the crèche, drunk on painkillers. To this day, Y’Chiryō had never found out exactly how the youngling had escaped, and Obi-Wan had earned himself a record of difficulty with the Healers.   
Once they reached the main hall, the group split for classes: Garen and Bant to their classes, Reeft to find his Master, and Siri, Aayla, and Rhys to spar. The Training Room was fairly empty, with the exceptions of a few younglings practicing after class. There was only one senior padawan, a green-skinned Nautolan who was setting up a game of dodgebolt. Intrigued, the three girls stood off to the side.  
“Hi!” he said cheerfully once he saw them, “What can I do for you?” Rhys decided then and there that she liked this Nautolan. Usually, the senior padawans tended to be a bit snotty and dismissive towards their younger counterparts.   
“Well… we were watching you set up a dodgebolt game,” Aayla said shyly, a bit of a blush creeping up her blue cheeks. The Nautolan boy grinned and held out a hand to shake.  
“Padawan Kit Fisto, at your service,” he said formally, eyes twinkling in mirth.   
“Initiate Siri Tachi.”  
“Padawan Rhys Talik.”  
“Initiate – well, I guess I’m going to be Padawan Aayla Secura in a few days.”  
“Well, it’s nice to meet you,” Kit said, looking over the three girls, “Do you want to play with me? It’s kind of boring all by myself.”  
“Sure,” Rhys answered before Siri could open her mouth, “How do you play?”  
The Nautolan padawan smiled even wider as he explained the rules of team dodgebolt to the girls. Each team of two would have several remotes targeting them. The team would gain points every time either one received a stinging hit from the blaster remotes. The game was made even more challenging by playing with a second team and trying to deflect shots to distract and hit the other team. The team with the most points by the end of the time period would be the losers.  
“So,” Kit finished, “What are the teams?”  
As he spoke, Aayla and Siri shot each other synchronized evil looks. The two girls were skilled at working together, and had practiced guarding each other during their training periods. They stepped closer together, clearly indicating that they were working together. Rhys sighed as she caught on to their signals.  
“Looks like it’s me and you, Kit.”   
Kit smirked as Aayla and Siri walked up to the mat, whispering conspiratorially, “Two padawans against a pair of Initiates? There’s no way we could lose!”  
Rhys stifled a laugh as they took their positions across from Aayla and Siri, igniting their lightsabers. At a signal from Kit the blaster remotes began hovering around the four Jedi, testing their defenses with quick shots. The shots quickly became more intense, forcing Kit and Rhys back-to-back. Rhys’ twin purple sabers whirled in sync with Kit’s bright green blade.   
Siri was the first to receive a shot, hissing in pain as one of Kit’s deflected bolts hit the back of her calf. She retaliated by sending a barrage of shots wildly back in his direction. Rhys yelped as one of them scored a glancing mark off of her shoulder.   
The game went on for several more minutes, with a war emerging between Kit and Siri. Siri sent nearly all of her deflected shots towards Kit, but her defenses fell drastically, forcing Aayla to pick up the slack and receive more hits. The game ended at the sound of a buzzer, revealing that Aayla and Siri had lost by a margin of a single point.   
Immediately after finding out that they lost, Aayla and Siri started bickering good-naturedly about whose fault it was that they didn’t win. Eventually, they both agreed that it was – in fact – Kit’s fault and not theirs and shamelessly tackled him to the ground. Rhys was drawn into the fray by a signature leg-sweep of Siri’s. In a matter of seconds, Siri was the one on the bottom of the pile, howling at all of them.  
“Ow! Get off me you kriffing-“  
“Siri!”  
“Siri!” Rhys and Aayla yelled in tandem.  
“Well… you were the one that tackled me…” Kit said wryly, which brought about another round of howls from Siri. The three on top clambered off of her, dodging vengeful swipes all the while. Exhausted, the four Jedi sat on the mat and laughed.  
“Thanks Kit,” Rhys said once they had composed themselves, “That was more fun than I’ve had in a long time.” The other girls agreed.  
“Thanks for playing with me,” Kit replied, standing and helping the other up, “Anyone hungry for lunch?” Rhys grinned sheepishly as her stomach growled.  
“Always!”

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave comments - your feedback is always wanted!


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